Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Palm Sunday is liturgically unusual. It sits at the beginning of Holy Week yet summarizes said week. During the rest of the week one reads of various events ranging from the cleansing of the Temple to the Last Supper to the crucifixion to the interment in the tomb. So there is much redundancy in the full observance of Holy Week. The designers of the Revised Common Lectionary seem to have arranged the readings for Palm Sunday so that one can skip the intervening days and proceed directly to Easter Sunday.

Historical scholarship reveals the presence of a variety of expectations as to what a Messiah would do and how he would do it at the time of Jesus. Some Jews did not even expect a Messiah. But many Jews looked for a national liberator, for they lived under occupation. Passover, the annual celebration of the deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt brought many pilgrims to Jerusalem, raised the political stakes, and made Rome nervous. If someone were to begin a revolution, he might do it at Passover.

What did the cheering crowds expect of Jesus? What did the Roman guards think as they watched the Triumphal Entry? For that matter, what do we ant Jesus to be and fear that he might be? If Jesus does not match our expectations, the problem lies within us, not him. If there is a misunderstanding, we are confused party.

KRT

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Published in a nearly identical form at LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 28, 2011